#NEW #GENERATIONS #LOVE DiegoVoci™

#MAX AND #DiegoVoci™ FINALE  

 

Jeune fille avec chapeau fleuri #291-921 40x50cm, Susan Max Private collection 

Recollections of Susan Max, daughter of Stephen and Wendy Max:

“As a young girl living in #Germany, I had the rare treat of going to meet a “REAL” #artist.

I was so excited!

 His name was Diego Voci and at first sight I recognized Diego’s #charisma. My nervousness subsided as he drew us into his world with his exceptional interest in each of us. He was very interested in the fact that both my middle brother and I read music and played instruments.

 Diego upon learning of our #musical training removed a #napkin and drew a treble clef on it asking us to explain what the clef symbol was and a sheet of music he had. What struck me was that during this visit the house he lived in was a #cornucopia for the #imagination. He graciously took us through the living and working area and I seem to recall an easel with unfinished work set up in the studio. 

 I remember Diego as a man that displayed so much interest in the world around him. I also remember him saying that you could #paint with #color, #light and #canvas. He had the ability to instantly draw you into his world and to include you into it.

 Much of my memories are that of an observer being let into a brilliant artists’ life. I remember how he also mentioned that I reminded him of a #painting he had done of a young girl and how my face shape was so similar. I remember being transfixed at the beautiful colors and the huge easels with work yet to be finished. On asking him when he painted, he responded when that he never knew when the urge would present itself and then as we were leaving Diego left and went in to the studio where he started to paint.

 I am so lucky to be influenced by such a brilliant and still current REAL artist.”

 Diego’s work truly expressed his poetical world and in so doing provides a never ending source of pleasure for us and his many admirers. –Stephen and Wendy Max December 1985

 

#CRAFTBEER #TATOOS AND NO SMOKING

…are a runaway trend in today’s “#New_Generation”…

Does the artwork of a long-dead artist fit into the lives of the “New Generation”?  Tastes change with time. For example, the constant smoking of internationally collected artist Antonio “Diego” Voci (VOH-chee, 1920-1985) would not be welcome in today’s trendy gathering places where no smoking is allowed.  40 cigarettes a day shortened Diego’s life when his lungs gave up.  45 years ago, at the La Gondola in Ramstein, Germany smoking was accepted. That’s where I dined with Diego on several occasions.

A good red wine, a tablecloth with an ash tray would be Diego’s setting as he perused Italian fare on Gigi’s menu.  Diego was most comfortable with extraordinary people in an ordinary setting, playing cards on the Mediterranean with fishermen in some poor village.  Diego’s specialty was portrayal of people.

As Victoria Williams wrote in 1974: “In the South, DIEGO says, people live their lives more openly.  They are more observable.  They gather in groups to talk on the street, they play games in their yards; they sit in the parks, – lovers, strangers, the poor, the rich, mothers, fathers, children, happy people, sad people, – people who have experienced – who are experiencing.  PEOPLE … living, feeling, being… these are the subjects of DIEGO.  He interprets freely on canvas what he has experienced.”

“An Italian under the rule of the Sun DIEGO paints richly.  He is drawn to living colors – warm, bright, dramatic.  His paintings radiate.  Like DIEGO, they dominate the space around them.  They demand attention.”  

One thing has not changed.  Art remains very much in the lives of our current generation.  Tattoos today are a fine art, very personal and proudly displayed on the aficionado’s skin rather than a canvas on a wall.  (Notice on The New Yorker cover the small of the lady’s back above the belt line).

The “New Generation” is not blind to quality and value. There are about 4,000 oil paintings signed “Diego” on 2 continents and some of them are appearing at absolute bargains. So be on the lookout.

GOOGLE, “Diego Voci” for more!

Happy Holidays!

Coop Cooprider, DIEGO Historian

DIEGO VOCI PROJECT